California loses to Blair Oaks after Falcons' big third quarter

Jordon Geiser gets past a defender during California's 88-58 loss to Blair Oaks on Feb. 12, 2019.
Jordon Geiser gets past a defender during California's 88-58 loss to Blair Oaks on Feb. 12, 2019.

WARDSVILLE, Mo. - Throughout the first half, the California Pintos boys basketball team (15-9) was neck and neck with the Blair Oaks Falcons (19-5). But a big third quarter by the Falcons helped them pull away from the Pintos during California's 88-58 loss, Feb. 12.

The Falcons outscored the Pintos 47-19 in the second half. In the third quarter alone, Blair Oaks outscored California 31-7.

California had a 23-17 lead in the first quarter, after coming back from an 8-0 hole to take a 17-13 lead with 2:44 left in the quarter. California ended the quarter with a 13-9 run, which ended when Isaac Ash hit a 3-pointer from the right corner at the buzzer to give the team a 26-17 lead.

In the second quarter, Blair Oaks took a small 27-26 lead, after going on a 10-0 run. California quickly retook the lead and made it a 31-27 game with 4:32 left in the first half. During the rest of the quarter, the two teams traded the lead, as neither team could build a comfortable lead. The game was tied four separate times in the second quarter. Eventually, Blair Oaks entered halftime with a 41-39 lead.

The Falcons started the second half with another run, as they took an 11-point lead with the score at 52-41 with 5:19 left in the third quarter. The Pintos struggled to match the Falcons' offense in the third quarter and the game started to slip away from California, as Blair Oaks ended the quarter up 72-46.

Head Coach Ron Lebel said the team had trouble getting its offense organized in the second half.

"We just had a hard time executing anything in the second half," Lebel said. "(Blair Oaks) is a nice defensive basketball team and is long and athletic and it was hard for us to get anything executed in the second half."

California had a rough day with turnovers in the game, as they turned the ball over 17 times.

"We are a much better basketball team, when it comes to turning the ball over, than at the clip we were doing it at last year," Lebel said. "For the most part, we have fixed that problem. We came in to win a basketball game, we competed for a half and the second half just got away from us."

In the fourth quarter, California's offense had more success than it had in the third quarter. But it was not enough as the team still struggled to slow down the Falcons' offense.

Isaac Ash led the Pintos with 15 points. Trystan Hees had 11 points, Jordan Bondurant had nine and Nathan Pickering scored eight points. California made eight 3-pointers in the game and shot 6-11 from the free-throw line.

Lebel said that the team can take away that its still has to execute.

"We had a few guys try to do way too much tonight - just because they were excited, not because they are selfish," Lebel said. "We've got to depend on our teammates and our system and what we are trying to do."